


Cuddles and Lullabies

by Becci Barnes (BeccEEE)



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Italian Maria Stark, Italian speaking Tony Stark, Lullabies, Multi, Multiple Partners, Nightmares, Polyamory, Sharing a Bed, Singing, Sleepy Cuddles, neck kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:55:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29219103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccEEE/pseuds/Becci%20Barnes
Summary: It's not unusual that Steve has nightmares. Even when he shares a bed with his boyfriends Tony and Bucky, the bad dreams haunt him from time to time. But this particular night Tony can't pull him out of them like he usually can, so he goes to great lengths to provide some comfort.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 12
Kudos: 53
Collections: Stuckony Love Letters





	Cuddles and Lullabies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ralsbecket](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ralsbecket/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [ralsbecket](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ralsbecket/pseuds/ralsbecket) in the [Stuckony_server_love_letters](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Stuckony_server_love_letters) collection. 



> I was scroling through the Stuckony Love Letters prompts, just to get an impression on what was there.  
> The next thing I know is, that I claimed and finished the story within a few hours, because damn that prompt really got me.
> 
> Good choice, ralsbecket ❤  
> I hope you like it. 
> 
> 💡 Prompt: He hates to sing even though he's great at it. The only time that he does it willingly is when his boyfriend wakes from a nightmare, and the only things that could get him to sleep again are cuddles and lullabies.

Tony watched the faint shadows dancing across the ceiling. The blanket only barely covered the Arc Reactor in his chest and its light cast a mystical blue glow in the dark room. He felt Steve's heartbeat throbbing against his own ribs from the right and the weight of his arm that rested slackly on Tony's stomach. With each breath that raised and lowered Tony's chest, Steve's fingers grazed lightly over Tony's side.

Bucky’s head rested on Tony's left shoulder and Tony felt his deep, powerful breath brush over his collarbone. He listened to the steady rhythm of inhaling and exhaling and felt his own breathing rhythm align with that of his boyfriend. He exuded this calming aura that Tony didn't want to miss anymore. They both did. When they shared a bed, the insomnia he had been plagued with for years hadn't suddenly and magically disappeared, but he could handle it a lot better. And although he still lay awake for more hours than he slept, they were no longer excruciatingly long hours of tossing and turning in bed while brooding. Steve and Bucky at his side put his mind at ease. And even if it wasn't always enough to allow him to drift off into actual sleep, the hours he lay awake between them were the most restful waking hours he could ask for. They were the hours when he could simply revel in their presence, grateful to have not just one but both of these wonderful men by his side.

Tony turned his head on the pillow to the right as Steve moved. His arm twitched on Tony's stomach who saw the muscles in Steve’s bare shoulder tense up. But then he just rolled over onto his other side, turning away from Tony, and seemed to continue sleeping peacefully.

Tony briefly shuddered as metal touched his naked skin. Although triple body heat had accumulated under their blanket, it was not enough to bring Bucky's arm up to a reasonably comfortable temperature. But Tony smiled into the darkness as Bucky's arm replaced Steve's from the other side. Tony was convinced that the two had found a way to communicate with each other in their sleep, for it was not the first time that one took the other's place. Tony's body between them never remained long without at least one hand on it. He couldn't say it particularly bothered him.

Steve winced so strongly it startled Tony and he immediately looked over at him alarmed. The broad shoulders towering beside him and the back of his head facing him was all Tony could see. But even in the dim light he noticed that Steve was trembling.

It wasn't the mild shiver that would come in a chilly room, or nervous shaking in the face of a challenge. It was a tremor of fear, a primal instinct, so encompassing it took over his entire body with only one thought remaining. Surviving the threat.

Bucky's arm slid off his stomach, when Tony turned on his side. Tightly he nestled against Steve's back and wrapped his free left arm around him. Steve was trembling so much it felt like Tony was shaking with him. But he only hugged him tighter, hoping that Steve could feel him through the fog of the nightmare he was suffering. All Tony wanted, was for the demons raging in Steve's mind and terrifying him, to disappear.

Soothingly, Tony stroked Steve's upper body, his arm, his shoulder.

"Steve," he whispered, his lips close to Steve's ear. "You're having a nightmare, sweetheart. Wake up, it's alright." But Steve did not wake up. Anxious, Tony watched his jaw clench and goose bumps form on his bare chest. Tony pulled the blanket up so they were buried in it up to their shoulders and continued to run his hand over his boyfriend’s body to comfort him.

"Steve, it's alright, you're safe. I'm right here. We're both right here." He pressed kisses to Steve’s shoulder, his cheek and down his neck, but none of it seemed to reach Steve.

"Steve, come on," he said a little louder, gently rocking his shoulder as Steve's head began to twitch on the pillow.

"It's alright," he repeated, intensifying the rocking. "You’re dreaming. Just wake up, Steve." But he didn't.

Tony ran his hand through the blonde hair and noticed that Steve's forehead was damp with sweat. His hand had clenched into a fist and Tony reached out for it, caressing his fingers to relax them, but they remained clutched together tightly.

Tony didn't know what else to do. It wasn't the first time Steve was having a bad dream, but usually hugging and comforting him did the trick. This time the nightmare seemed to have shielded Steve completely from reality, and Tony couldn't just sit tight and leave Steve be trapped in it all alone.

He began to hum.

With his head on Steve's shaking shoulder and still caressing his cramped fist, he hummed in his ear. It was the first melody that popped into his head and the words came to him without him thinking about them.

" _Ninna nanna, ninna oh,_ " he sang softly, " _Questo bimbo a chi lo do?_ "

Steve's head stopped twitching and Tony felt his fingers come loose from the clenched fist.

" _Me lo tiene una settimana._ " Tony resumed running his hand over Steve's chest in long strokes and while he was singing quietly, the goosebumps under his hand disappeared.

" _Se lo do al Lupo Bianco, me lo tiene tanto tanto._ " He pressed a kiss to Steve's hair, and by the time he sang the last lines, Steve had stopped shaking. " _Ninna nanna, nanna fate, il mio bimbo addormentate._ "

The words echoed loudly in Tony's head as the room went back to silence. He hadn't known they were still lingering in his memory after all these years. Snuggling tightly against Steve's back again, he listened carefully to his breathing and was relieved to find that it had become calm and steady again.

He felt a kiss on his own neck and froze.

"That was beautiful," Bucky whispered in his ear and pressed another kiss to his neck.

"I didn't know you were awake," Tony said, feeling caught. He didn't like people to hear him sing. Especially not outside his shower and in a language he could barely speak.

"I was enjoying the show," Bucky murmured as he hugged Tony's back and put his arm around him again.

"Don't mock me," Tony said seriously. "He had a nightmare again. And I couldn't get him to wake up."

"I'm not mocking you," Bucky replied. Then he reached over across Tony to briefly stroke over Steve's shoulder as well. "Is he okay?"

"I think so," Tony replied, turning his attention back to Steve who lay motionless next to them and seemed quite relaxed. "He's not trembling anymore."

"Good," Bucky said, drawing his hand back to rest it on Tony's stomach again. "What was that song?"

"An Italian lullaby," Tony replied. Then he hesitated for a moment before saying, "My mum used to sing it to me. My pronounciation is horrible, and I know I was missing some lines in the middle but it was the only thing I could think of."

"It was a very good Idea," Bucky said, running his fingers in gentle circles along Tony's skin. "His mum used to sing to him too. Back when he was an asthmatic kid and couldn't sleep because it felt like he was suffocating. Singing calmed him down."

"It still does," Tony said with his forehead against Steve's shoulder blade, feeling his steady breathing.

"Not just him." Tony felt Bucky's nose brush along his neck as he shifted his head on the pillow. "Would you sing it again if I asked you to?" He wrapped his leg around Tony's hip to pull him even closer.

Tony turned his head as best he could in his direction. "You're not the one having a nightmare right now, do you?"

"Don't try me," Bucky mumbled into the back of Tony's head.

"I can hum it," Tony suggested.

"That will do," Bucky said.

And Tony began to hum the melody again. But he barely got to the second line before his lips started moving with it as if on their own. He felt Bucky smiling in his neck as he sang softly.

" _Se lo do al Lupo Bianco, me lo tiene tanto tanto. Ninna nanna, nanna fate, il mio bimbo addormentate._ "

When he had finished, Bucky's breathing in his neck had also returned to deep and regular breaths. Tony nestled his head against Steve's back again and held Bucky's hand tightly on his own stomach.

As he closed his eyes, he thought briefly about the very special and calming effect this song had always had on him before he drifted off into a light sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> ❤ Thank you for reading and happy Valentine's Day!  
> ✨ Leave me a comment, I am excited to hear your opinion.  
> 🌈 And feel free to share the story on [Tumblr](https://tales-and-thoughts.tumblr.com/post/643127708821372928/cuddles-and-lullabies-ao3), if you liked it.
> 
> 🎁 Bonus: The song Tony sings is [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd5sO3gRGeo).


End file.
